


let the loving start

by FunkyinFishnet



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Cuddling & Snuggling, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Male Slash, Multi, Pack, Pack Cuddles, Pack Family, Pack Piles, Werewolf Mates, Werewolves, Wolf Pack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:54:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26585467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FunkyinFishnet/pseuds/FunkyinFishnet
Summary: The pack have been gently relentless in pointing out to Lando that Charles and Pierre feel the same way about him that he does about them. And Lando hasn’t missed how the two of them smell around him, but people change their minds. He knows that now. And he’s not who he was. He really doesn’t want to be wrong again.
Relationships: Daniel Ricciardo/Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton/George Russell, Pierre Gasly/Charles Leclerc/Lando Norris
Comments: 14
Kudos: 141





	let the loving start

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel to [I will give you rest](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26345236/chapters/64159756)
> 
> Title is a lyric from 'Hold Me Now' by The Thompson Twins.  
> Fic contains mention of past Lando Norris/Carlos Sainz Jr.

Lando doesn’t know what to expect when Zak calls him into his office at the garage before free practice but the team principal is smiling and tells Lando not to sit.

“No, no, this won’t take long. Lewis has let me know about your pack status. Congratulations.”

Zak is still smiling and he smells proud? Lando smiles back, he can’t help it when he thinks about his pack. He supposes he’s still expecting people to think the same way Carlos does – that packs prey on beta wolves and that they’re not of any benefit to any wolf trying to be a champion.

“Thank you, I’m still getting used to it.”

“There’ll be a settling in time for sure. Now, there’s a pack room set up for you guys in Mercedes. If that doesn’t work out, we’ll think of something else, okay?”

Lando blinks, really? A pack room? That’s pretty awesome. He’s been wondering how the pack is gonna function during actual competition. How are they gonna physically be a pack, supporting each other, when they’re facing each other? But the couples in the pack manage fine, Lewis is a world champion and he’s recently mated with George. Lando feels a glow of happiness and pride thinking about that. George is one of his best friends and he and Lewis are really happy together. They encourage Lando to stay the night whenever he needs to and he usually does, but he feels guilty interrupting their time together, especially now they’re mates.

“I have to say, you and Daniel being teammates is gonna be really useful next year,” Zak muses.

Lando’s stomach does a funny little lurch because honestly, he hasn’t given much thought to the fact that he and one of his pack’s alphas will be team mates. It’s not that he doesn’t want it – Daniel is really nice and funny and Lando genuinely enjoys his company now – it’s that Lando doesn’t want to misunderstand something again with a teammate and upset the pack, what if he and Daniel get like Mark and Sebastian or worse, Nico and Lewis?

“Really?” he manages.

“Oh yeah, I’ve worked with pack members before and there’s a short hand and understanding that develops. You tend not to take everything so personally too when you’re being outperformed by your teammate when you share a pack too, maybe it gives you a wider context to work with.”

Lando leaves Zak’s office deep in thought, he hasn’t thought of it that way, like how a pack could give him an advantage. He’s so deep in thought, he nearly bumps into Daniel himself.

“Woah there, baby,” Daniel smiles, steadying Lando and draping an arm around the beta’s shoulders. “Look like you’ve got the weight of the world on you there.”

Lando smiles because Daniel usually makes him smile these days but Daniel must see or smell something off because he guides Lando away from the crowded paddock and to a little grassy hillock tucked away behind a building near the track, where they can talk and relax without being overheard.

“Can you talk about it?” he asks, keeping an arm around Lando.

It feels so good and Lando sort of leans into it, making an embarrassing sound when Daniel holds him close, wrapping both arms around him now. Daniel doesn’t tease him though, he makes this deep soothing noise in his throat, the kind that can only come from an alpha. Lando sighs and feels his shoulders drop an inch. Maybe it’s because Daniel is pack but it feels so nice.

“Deep breaths,” Daniel says quietly.

He doesn’t push but Lando can’t stay silent forever and it’s so stupid that he can’t get this right.

He talks into Daniel’s chest, “You’re gonna be my teammate.”

“Absolutely.”

He can smell how pleased Daniel is about that and it makes Lando smile and nuzzle against the alpha a little. Daniel kisses the top of his head. He doesn’t smell predatory at all. Lando stays relaxed.

“And I don’t want to get stuff wrong again,” is all Lando manages to explain, pulling a face at his own inability to use words.

Daniel makes another soothing noise and lets silence wrap around them before finally saying, “Baby, I get that, all right. I’m not offended. So, we’re pack but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna back down from you on track, and I don’t want you to back down either, okay?”

Lando nods, relief coursing through him at having stuff spelled out clearly. He feels like he has to have that now. “You might change your mind when I beat you.”

He’s half-teasing and Daniel prods him in the ribs, “I won’t, I’ll be super proud and pissed off that I couldn’t match you but I felt the same when I was at Red Bull with Max.”

Lando forgets sometimes how long Daniel and Max have known each other and all they’ve been through together. He can’t imagine having a mate as a teammate. He thinks about Charles and Pierre and blushes. That’s something else he doesn’t have words for.

“You ever get doubts or whatever, you come to me or someone else in the pack. We’ll always wanna help you with it.”

Lando breathes in the pack scent that clings to Daniel and a moment later, feels another set of arms wrap around him. Max has arrived. He soothingly rubs the back of Lando’s neck and kisses Daniel. Lando leans into Max’s touch and feels like an idiot, because he needs so much reassurance. He came into Formula 1 with nerves, yes, but confidence and excitement too. On track, he’s still got that but away from it, he’s all doubts now. He knows it’s obvious, some of the guys in the garage have pointed it out, and he hates it. He doesn’t feel like himself anymore, why would Charles and Pierre want him like this?

“You shouldn’t have to,” he mutters into Daniel’s shirt, before clarifying, “Help me so much.”

Max snorts, a hand stroking Lando’s back now, “That’s what a pack does.”

“It doesn’t make you weak or whatever,” Daniel adds, nose twitching like he can get all the subtle flavours Lando’s letting out. “You’ve got a lot on your plate, baby, and at some point, we will too and you’ll help us deal.”

Lando can’t imagine either of them dissolving like this or getting things so wrong like he did with Carlos but he cuddles close to them and breathes in the scents of pack and caring until they all need to get back because free practice is about to start.

Later, Daniel and Lando are interviewed together for a quick TV piece, thank God the interviewer isn’t a wolf, because she asks what it’s like to be part of a pack.

“Um, well I’m still getting used to it,” Lando laughs before saying pointedly. “It’s very loud.”

“He loves it,” confides Daniel, eyes bright and laughing. “I’ve got amazing taste in music.”

“If clubbing in the Nineties is your thing.”

Daniel pushes him then, almost off his stool, and Lando knocks Daniel’s hat away. Daniel scoops it up with a laugh, the interviewer laughing with them, “Is this what Lewis has to deal with then? All the time?”

“Yeah, so anyone who thinks he’s, like, got control of the grid or whatever, think again,” Daniel declares.

People do think that, Lando has been asked about it enough times. He always shakes his head, he has no clue how Lewis balances being a world champion, a pack leader and a mate without wanting to go and be a hermit or something. Lando can’t imagine thriving under all that pressure, as well as all the media stuff Lewis does and the celebrity world he navigates amazingly. But Lewis is always there with a hug and a kind word for whoever needs it in the pack, soaking up Max’s teasing about his age and everything else they throw at him, like Lando’s stupid problems.

“Is it strange for you, Lando, being in a pack with so many couples?” the interviewer asks then.

Lando shrugs, heart squeezing a bit as he thinks about Charles and Pierre and oh God, he is not going to talk about that on TV, ever, “I don’t really know any different, to be honest. Everyone has their privacy obviously, it’s our normal, you know?”

He doesn’t think he’s made much sense but the interview ends with Daniel getting him in a headlock which the interviewer loves. She tells them they’re going to be a lot of fun next year. Daniel tucks an arm around Lando’s waist as they leave, saying goodbye to the film crew, making sure they thank everyone for their hard work in the hot sun.

“Come on, Max swears there’s a place around here that does ice cream we can actually have during the season.”

///

“I saw the interview,” Pierre tells him a few days later, coming to sit next to Lando on one of Lewis’s sofas. “The one with Daniel, it was funny.”

Lando groans and covers his face, “I didn’t know what I was saying, God.”

Pierre snuggles up to him and puts a hand on Lando’s knee. Lando’s breathing stutters and Pierre squeezes his knee just a bit, so Lando has to peek out at him between his fingers. Yep, Pierre’s smile is still gorgeous.

“You were fine. You and Daniel, you’re a good match as teammates.”

Yeah, Lando hopes so. He thinks doing media stuff with Daniel will be really easy and fun, there’s no way it’ll be as awkward as it is with Carlos right now. Pierre wrinkles his nose, like he can smell Lando’s thoughts, and tugs Lando closer so they’re cuddled up together. Charles is taking a phone call on the balcony while George is worshipping the coffee machine. Lando loves how Pierre feels – he’s always soft and gentle and he’s the most beautiful beta Lando has ever seen. He’s looking at Lando now and his scent is full of affection and, um, love, when Charles isn’t there too.

Lando swallows, the pack have been gently relentless in pointing out that Charles and Pierre feel the same way about him that he does about them. And Lando hasn’t missed how they smell around him, but people change their minds. He knows that now. And he’s not who he was. He really doesn’t want to be wrong again.

Pierre smells as good as he looks though and he makes a sound in his throat that Lando echoes. Pierre doesn’t push for anything else, he seems happy just to be snuggling up with Lando. It does feel amazing. Lando has done this with every member of the pack but it really doesn’t get better than how he feels being close to Pierre and Charles. It didn’t even feel this good with Carlos.

“I like this,” he murmurs.

“I like it too,  _ mon beau _ ,” Pierre replies, nosing at Lando’s temple.

Lando smiles, he knows he’s blushing. He doesn’t speak French but he knows what that means and Pierre smells like he means it. There’s movement across the room and then Charles is sharing the sofa too. He’s on Lando’s other side, a question in his face, like he wants to make sure Lando is happy with him being close. Lando melts a bit at that consideration, Charles always lets Lando initiate or he checks before he touches.

Lando nods and Charles smiles widely, leaning across Lando to kiss Pierre lingeringly. They’re unbelievably gorgeous together, Lando’s pulse quickens and he blushes harder when they break the kiss to smile at him.

“We’re glad you like it,  _ cheri _ ,” Charles tells him.

His eyes are dark and he smells of thick alpha lust, but his touch is gentle as he caresses Lando’s face and kisses high up on Lando’s cheekbone. Lando definitely lets out an embarrassing little sound but Charles curls up around him, making a rumbling pleased alpha noise and God, Lando really likes that. He can smell that Pierre does too. He and Pierre exchange matching little smiles; Lando loves that. At times like these, he believes it can all be possible.

He hears George enter the room then, along with the strong smell of coffee, and he sees his best friend smiling so fond and pleased at them. Lando can’t help smiling back, especially when Charles offers,

“Room for one more?”

George takes a sip of coffee and joins them, settling beside Pierre, nuzzling his fellow beta’s shoulder, revealing his mating bite. It looks amazing, he’s very proud of it and Lando loves seeing it. The moment is broken when they all tense, having smelled burning upset and anger getting close to the house. It’s Max. George gets up immediately, though Daniel has a key and he’s with his beta. Pierre kisses Lando’s cheek before sitting up. Lando sits up too, his disappointment at the broken contact disappearing swiftly when Max enters the house, looking furious, colour blazing across his cheeks. Daniel is right behind him, mouth thin as he talks on the phone to Lewis.

George immediately hugs Max and looks around, making a decision, “Okay, here.”

He grabs cushions off the sofas with one hand, unwilling to get go of Max, and dumps them on the floor, “Someone get pillows from the bedrooms.”

Pierre disappears with a nod. Charles carefully touches Max’s back, they’re the least close of the pack due to their shared racing history but being pack seems to have smoothed out some of that hostility. Lando is glad, he quickly covers one of Max’s free sides, murmuring anything soothing he can, wanting to scent-mark away the acid smell of Max’s anger. Pierre makes several trips to bring all the pillows and blankets he can find, adding to the mound on the floor. George guides Max down onto the pile, removing Max’s shoes and jacket and making sure he’s in the middle of them all. Lando takes one side of Max, Charles curls up around Lando which feels amazing, and Pierre half-lies across their legs, Charles threading a hand through Pierre’s hair. When Lando tentatively drops a hand to Pierre’s face, Pierre smiles brilliantly, nuzzling Lando’s fingers and even kissing his knuckles. Lando’s breath shakes, especially when Pierre looks up at him with those beautiful eyes. Lando doesn’t move his hand.

George is still cuddling Max’s other side and Daniel has joined them now, managing to curl at Max’s back, running a hand over George, Pierre and Lando, before tapping Charles on the shoulder in thanks. No one asks Max what’s wrong, they all hold him.

Finally, Max bites out, “My father wants me to know how stupid I am for not seducing Lewis into choosing me as a mate instead of George.”

George growls, but it’s not just at the idea of Lewis mating with anyone else, it’s at Max’s dad. Charles and Daniel’s growls are a lot louder and angrier.

“Also he says under no circumstances am I to mate with Daniel when Valtteri is still available.”

That makes Daniel laugh, “He’s never forgiven you for reaching eighteen, has he?”

Lando presses closer. He forgets sometimes that Max, who is so obviously happy with Daniel and doing amazing things on track, has a dickhead control-freak of a father.

“I think Sebastian and Kimi would not like that,” Pierre adds.

They all grow quiet again, lost in their own thoughts. Lando thinks about how lucky he is that his parents don’t care he’s a beta. They only care that he’s safe and happy, on and off track. They’re so pleased he’s found a pack and that he smells like there’s someone even more important in his life. He says he won’t tell them because he’s been wrong before. His mum says he’s never smelled like this before.

Charles nuzzles at Lando’s neck softly, scent-marking him. Lando sighs under the attention and laces his fingers with Charles’s, where they’re both touching Pierre. There’s more important stuff happening now, Max needs them.

Lando loses track of how long they all lie like that. Alex joins them at one point, sitting near George’s feet after he’s been scent-marked by everyone. Then even later Lewis arrives. Ah, Lando feels like a pressure gives way that he didn’t realise was there. Lewis circles the group, scent-marking them all with a simple touch, kissing George before he gets to Max. He hooks his fingers under Max’s chin and nuzzles the beta one cheek at a time. Max sighs, leaning into the touch. Daniel watches with a gentle smile, smoothing fingers through Max’s hair.

“He can’t make you do anything,” Lewis reminds Max.

Max nods, still frowning, “I know. It’s that he thinks he can.”

Lando gets that, he can feel how much more relaxed Max is though, surrounded by pack and with their pack alpha here. It’s amazing really, Lando knows how defensive Max got around alpha wolves before. He got why, he just never thought Max would ever be like this with alphas other than Daniel. It’s been really good for him.

“We’re going to mate,” Max announces, reaching back for Daniel’s hand. “Soon.”

Lando grins, bumping against Max’s shoulder, and Lewis smiles too but says, “It won’t stop him, Max.”

“That’s not why we’re doing it.”

Lewis looks at them a moment more, then nods and George cheers, launching himself at both Max and Daniel, trusting they’ll catch him as he congratulates them. Charles squeezes Lando round the waist, patting Max’s arm and clasping Daniel’s hand.

“Don’t do it before a race,” Lewis warns, one hand touching his own mating mark while the other settles high on George’s back. “Let your team know so they leave you alone for a bit. Take a couple of days at least.”

“And have a honeymoon holiday later,” adds George, still grinning.

Lewis clasps Daniel’s hand and brings him in for a hug that ends with them resting their foreheads together.

“I know you’ll take care of him.”

Daniel nods, emotion bright in his eyes, “Thank you, alpha.”

There’s a different kind of pressure in the air now, especially when Lewis leans down to rest his head against Max’s too. It’s a good pressure though, everyone’s a bit inflated with emotion and Alex is the one who says, his voice a bit raw,

“Can we have a run?”

That gets a huge cheer, and when Lewis agrees, everyone gets up, Max immediately turning into Daniel’s arms for a long whisper-filled hug. Lando doesn’t want to let go of Charles or Pierre but he’s not sure he’s okay with changing in front of him. He’s thinking about Carlos again but he shouldn’t.

He finds a bedroom no one’s using to shift in. It’s a room some of them use when they’re staying at Lewis’s. It’s pretty much the pack house now, Lewis encourages it. Lando strips off and shifts before his eyes start to prick with tears. Tonight isn’t about him, he doesn’t want to ruin anything else. He trots out and tussells playfully with Pierre who leaps at him joyfully. Charles nips at them both, before Lewis leads the shifted pack out into the cooling air.

Lando’s run with his family before and he’s always enjoyed it but there’s something about doing a run with the pack he’s chosen instead of the one he was born into that feels incredible. Lando definitely doesn’t have the words for it. 

So he runs, Pierre and Charles stay close to him. Charles might wrestle Pierre down and playfully bite his neck, but he doesn’t do the same to Lando. He wrestles him still but he presses his muzzle to Lando’s neck with teeth covered. Lando purrs as much as a wolf can, enjoying the attention of a treasured alpha wolf and a beta that licks at his jaw.

He plays with Max and Alex and George and gets affectionate nudges from Daniel and Lewis. He wishes the night wouldn’t end. Out here on four feet, everything makes so much more sense.

Back at the house, he's carried by that feeling and gorgeous pack run adrenaline to the room that’s become Charles and Pierre's. No one whistles at him, though he feels Alex and George’s smiles. Charles and Pierre smell so happy and Lando curls up under the covers when they keep looking at him. They join him quickly, touching him questioningly, and pressing closer when he agrees. Lando still doesn’t want this to end.

“ _ Mon cheri _ ,” Pierre whispers, kissing Lando’s shoulder, then his jaw.

“You’re okay?” Charles checks from Lando’s other side.

They still smell so happy, touching Lando, not frustrated or mocking or dismissive. Lando feels like he's still running with them. He turns his head and kisses Charles as an answer. Charles groans, his scent going full lustful, and he drags a hand through Lando’s hair as he deepens the kiss. Lando whines and can’t help moving. Carlos called him easy before, but he’d been laughing and happy. Lando kisses Charles harder.

Pierre is murmuring French behind him, slipping his hands down to Lando’s waist, his mouth pressing to Lando’s neck. Lando gasps, he hasn’t felt this good in so long. He can smell how much they want him, how eager they are, oh God. Charles’s eyes are flashing, Lando wants to howl.

“I don’t know, I can’t, this might be all I can do,” he babbles, his words lost again.

Charles smiles against his mouth, “Whatever you want,  _ mon coeur. _ I have Pierre if I need to stick my cock anywhere.”

It’s like being doused in cold water. Lando scrambles away, his stomach rolling sickly, thoughts racing. They let him, both confused and worried. That’s something but Carlos never smelled malicious either. Lando scrambles for a t-shirt, he doesn’t even know if it’s his, and fumbles for the door. No one follows him as he races out the room and tries to remember where he’s going.

He can hear Lewis talking, he moves as fast as his body lets him, filled with a different kind of adrenaline. The door opens before he gets the chance to knock, George wraps him up in a hug without question.

“Lando, what the hell? What’s happened?”

Lewis is there, silently asking if Lando will let him close. Lando reaches for him and Lewis immediately picks him up, carrying his shaking form to the bed where Lewis and George hold him, making soothing noises, stroking his hair and skin. Lando tries to take deep breaths, following Lewis’s breathing pattern until he feels like he can speak.

“They didn’t, joking, why can’t I handle this?” he croaks out.

George sits him up and makes him sip water for a bit. It really does help. “Whatever it is, we’re gonna handle it with you, okay?”

Lando goes to shake his head, but Max had said that was what pack was and he’d then come straight here when his dad had hurt him again. But that’s different, this is all on Lando. It's stupid, he can’t handle alphas being alphas.

George pets him and Lewis holds him silently as they all lie down together again. Lewis doesn’t ask for an explanation but it isn’t fair to the pack leader if he doesn’t know. Lando has done enough damage.

“I think it was a joke,” he tries. “It was...really good, I was actually being with them. I said I didn’t know how much I could do and Charles said that was fine and he had Pierre to put his cock in and I had a stupid panic about what alphas in a pack want from betas and ran here.”

George growls quietly, nosing Lando, “He’s so bloody stupid.”

Lewis shakes his head, his voice a quiet comfort in Lando’s ear, “Considering what you’ve come out of, panic’s the least I’d expect. An alpha wolf you thought you’d mate with started acting like alphas in packs see betas as interchangeable and that that’s the way it should be if you want a world title.”

Lando nods, miserable, trying not to think about Carlos’s well-meaning chats. Lewis continues, “You’ve got a few extra trip-wires and you want something more than he does.”

Lewis sounds so reasonable and certain, Lando coughs out a laugh. “How do you  **do** that? Everything’s so clear for you.”

George snorts, “You don’t see him playing Call Of Duty.”

“I’ve talked to a lot of pack leaders,” Lewis adds. “The only reason I can do what I do is because I have an amazing team and an incredible pack. I’m not enough alone.”

Lando lies there, soaking in his pack alpha and George who’s glued to his side. He feels better already and really stupid for running out on Charles and Pierre. They’re not going to want anything to do with him now.

“I’ve talked to Charles before, he’s dedicated to Pierre and to the pack,” Lewis tells him. “And they’ve wanted you for way longer than this pack’s been together.”

Lando’s eyes widen, really? But then, for ages, he only had eyes, and everything else, for Carlos.

“I don’t know if I can trust any wolf to want me forever,” he says in a really small voice.

Lewis drops a kiss to Lando’s cheek, “You don’t have to. Maybe start with trusting they want you right now.”

Lando wants to say more but exhaustion that must have been waiting until right now sweeps over him and he finds himself falling hazily asleep. He thinks he wakes during the night but Lewis and George soothe him back to sleep. He can smell pack and love and eventually it blots everything else out.

///

Morning is complicated. Lando wishes for the simple night again. Now he’s a swirling mass of guilt and gnawing worry. Lewis says he hasn’t ruined the pack, Charles and Pierre are still in the building. Alex comes to Lewis’s room as soon as he wakes, crawling under the covers to cuddle Lando. George dashes to the bathroom, crowing that he’s got there first for once. Lewis scent-marks both betas in his bed and tells them he’ll see them at breakfast before going to join George in the shower.

One question Lando keeps getting in interviews is what it’s like to be so involved with and hear so much of his pack’s personal lives. It took him a couple of interviews to realise he's being asked about hearing his pack having sex, specifically the world champion. He talks about the special ear-plugs they’ve all got, every wolf on the grid has them for when paddock noise gets too much. Lando finds them really useful off grid too.

And honestly, he doesn’t mind what he overhears in the pack house. It’s more of a comfort than anything else, it means his pack is happy, and it’s not like anyone’s obnoxious about it. He doesn’t tell the media that though.

Alex sticks with him as he dresses and looks him in the eye until Lando looks back, “There’s nothing wrong with knowing what you want.”

He sits next to Lando at breakfast, Max takes the other side. He nuzzles Lando firmly while at Lando’s nod, Daniel runs a hand through Lando’s curls and presses a kiss to his forehead. There’s so much love in the room, Lando wants to stay there forever. It’s love. He’s...he’s sure of that.

Max growls when Charles and Pierre enter, but Daniel nudges him. They must have been told about last night. Lando sinks in his chair but Max and Alex press close. Charles and Pierre stink of remorse and real deep distress, Lando wants to tell them it’s him, not them. But he’s mortified by what happened and eats his breakfast instead, keeping close to Max and Alex. He’s careful to avoid Charles and Pierre after that, and they don’t approach him but they’re obviously aware of him whenever they’re all in the same room and he doesn’t want them gone, they're pack. He wants himself gone instead.

It’s like that for a few days and he feels so guilty. Pack shouldn’t be avoiding each other, but Lewis assures him they’ll get there, it's a young pack and there's going to be issues. He's not worried. He has a long talk with Charles which doesn't involve any raised voices but Lando worries. He knows Pierre and Charles are worried about him and they still, Lando can still smell their, um, love for him. He can smile at them, he can’t not, he still l-loves them. He can say it to himself, it doesn’t mean he trusts it. He loved Carlos.

“Lando, how are you?”

Carlos tries to touch his shoulder but Lando nearly swerves out the way and manages a smile, “Sorry, pack thing.”

Carlos looks bemused but keeps a neat distance away. The garage is pretty busy but they can stand and talk. Practice won’t start for a while yet. Lando buries his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, he’s pretty sure Alex has been wearing it because the arms are stretched out, and he can smell Daniel too. He likes that a lot.

He needs it facing Carlos, they haven’t really talked since that last chat about what Carlos wanted. Lando can already see how much Carlos is eyeing up the Ferrari garage, how did he not notice before?

“So how is the pack working out for you?” Carlos asks.

He seems like he actually wants to know, his gaze travelling back to Lando. Lando makes a real effort not to hunch in and he’s startled to find he wants to growl too, weirdly, because this is his pack and he’s protective. He can smell Carlos’s bemusement growing at the idea Lando will find a pack a positive thing or whatever, like Lando isn’t built for one because he doesn’t really understand what it means.

“It’s good, a work in progress,” Lando settles on, so he’ll smell of the truth.

Carlos looks a little surprised, maybe he expects Lando to gush about how amazing it is so he can pat Lando on the head and give him sage advice again. Lando holds his gaze. When he takes a deep breath, he gets notes of Carlos’s affection for him but it’s just a single vague layer in Carlos’s scent. It’s how Lando remembers it, he thought it was stronger than that though. Carlos’s interest grows sharper when a group in Ferrari polo shirts walks past. Wow.

“It’s working for our world champ of course,” Lando adds, proudly.

That gets Carlos’s attention back and he looks like he wants to disagree but he can’t with a solid fact, “He was champion before he made a pack.”

“He didn’t drop his title when he got a pack though.”

Lando feels adrenaline again but it’s different to the pack run. It’s got fierceness to it, like a bite. He’s proud of his pack, everyone is doing well this year. People shouldn’t talk shit about his pack. Carlos is distracted again by someone in particular in red.

“He’s an exception, Lando, you know, and there is always change in…”

He doesn’t even finish his sentence, pulling away to follow the crowd, not realising even now how deep his words cut. Lando can smell how interested Carlos is in Ferrari and his ambition, that’s way stronger than any affection the alpha wolf has buried in his scent. Charles and Pierre don’t smell like that, none of Lando’s pack do. The realisation hits him square in the face.

He makes for the Mercedes garage, tapping a quick message on his phone to Will to let him know he’s in the pack room if anyone needs him. He waves at a mechanic who’s moving to intercept, “Pack room.”

They obviously smell Lewis on him because they let him past. Lando needs to get some pack smell now, the protect-the-pack adrenaline has burned away and left him thoughtful but mostly aching for pack, for the smell that’s way more love than he realised. Of course when he punches the key-code in, only Charles and Pierre are there, curled up together on a huge squishy sofa. Oh, but it smells perfect.

They’re looking at him warily and longingly and they smell so different to Carlos. Lando makes for the sofa and the moment he stands between them, they uncurl. He throws himself down, cuddling up to Pierre with a grunt. He squeezes his eyes shut, taking deep scent-filled breaths, and reaches for Charles, dragging him close. The alpha wolf obeys immediately, wrapping around Lando’s back and pressing his face carefully to Lando’s shoulder. Even with a clear request, he’s being careful. Fuck, Lando loves him.

He reaches for Pierre’s hand too, so he’s holding them both. Their hands are warm and dry.

“I don’t know how long this’ll last,” he warns, eyes still shut.

Charles threads fingers through Lando’s hair, massaging his scalp in a way that makes Lando whine. Pierre tangles their feet together. Lando’s surrounded by them and he feels secure. They still smell like love, and deep deep concern.

“Are you all right?” Pierre asks at last.

Lando manages a nod and cracks his eyes open, lowering his gaze, “I talked to Carlos. He probably still thinks packs are full of beta-swaps and whatever, alpha wolves getting bored and taking what they want and moving on.”

Charles growls and Lando nestles back against him, getting a kiss to his cheek. God, this feels so good. So much better than talking to Carlos.

“We’re not like that,” Pierre replies, his smell matching his words. “We don’t want to swap you for anyone else.”

Lando’s mouth trembles and Pierre kisses his other cheek. “You smell different,” Lando blurts out, he wants to get his words right for once. “To Carlos, I thought he loved me and he did. But I wasn’t a priority. I keep thinking that’s gonna happen again.”

Charles growls again, it’s a reassuring tone this time, and he kisses Lando’s jaw, then trails kisses when Lando doesn't flinch away, ending at the corner of Lando’s mouth. Lando turns to get a proper kiss, it’s really slow and sweet this time. Not like after the run at all. Charles still doesn’t smell frustrated, he smells committed and concentrated, his mouth exploring Lando’s. Lando whimpers and Charles ends the kiss gently. He rests his head against Lando’s.

“I am so sorry I scared you,” his scent is full of remorse. “I didn’t mean…I’m not going to get bored with you.”

Lando nods, pressing a quick kiss to Charles’s lips and staying close to the alpha, his alpha probably. Pierre squeezes him gently, “We’ve missed you,  _ mon trésor _ .”

Lando sighs, breathing them in, doubts far away for the moment, “I’ve missed you too.”

They stay tangled and Lando turns his head to kiss Pierre as well. Pierre moans into the kiss but doesn’t try to deepen it. They both enjoy it as it is, their hands soft on each other. Then Pierre kisses under Lando’s eyes, like he’s kissing away tears.

“ _ Mon beau _ .”

“I can’t stop being wrong,” Lando warns. “It’s like everything gets wrecked because of me.”

Like the pack’s going to end because of him and everyone’ll leave. Charles kisses his temple, reaching across Lando to touch Pierre too. Pierre smiles tenderly at them both and shakes his head.

“We are here and we will step away, when you need it,” he says carefully, his scent letting Lando know how much they hated being apart from him.

Lando pushes closer, wanting to block that feeling out, he hated it too. But he’d had to, it’d felt too much like he wasn’t enough again.

“We will wait for you to come back, it’s pack,” Charles says matter-of-factly, his more wolfish teeth nipping Lando’s ear, it feels amazing. “And it’s you and us.”

Lando swallows, pressing back into the touch of Charles’s teeth, “You’re probably gonna have to wait a lot.”

Pierre shrugs, “We will wait.”

Lando closes his eyes again, everything shaking but for a really good reason this time. He breathes in pack and Charles and Pierre who still smell like love and want, even after everything he’s said. They’ll wait, even when he can’t believe in them wanting him forever. He whines and they press closer, stroking him and kissing him. It’s the three of them together and it’s something Lando wants to believe in, forever. He tips his head back, baring his throat.

“Let’s run tonight.”

**Author's Note:**

> And here at last is the sequel! I sincerely hope it is enjoyed <3  
> No more fics in this world to come as I have other F1 worlds to write.  
> All kudos and comments welcome, please feed the author :)


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